rested and returned

Yesterday I took myself to see Evening over at Cobble Hill Cinemas. Justin and I took turns visiting theaters, since he wanted to see Transformers and we weren't too interested in each other's films. He took the morning shift, and I had the afternoon out free. One thing I've gotten out of my work with The Artist's Way is a love for my own company. I remember when I couldn't imagine going to a movie theater by myself, or to a coffee shop alone without a book to read or something to do. Now, I savor such moments. The week is easier to begin when I am full and I have taken care of myself. My writing comes easier and my tightly-wound core relaxes, flexing and bending a bit.

Going to the movie yesterday reminded me of the last time I saw Meryl Streep on the big screen, watching The Devil Wears Prada with Phyllis and Caren. But Evening is a very different film. It was lurching along for me and I started panicking because Meryl Streep hadn't even shown up yet, and I could feel an ending coming on. There were actresses I enjoy in the movie, like Toni Collette, but I somehow wasn't buying it. I was still a person sitting in a theater, watching lights hit a screen. Just when I was about to get up and yell, "Where's Meryl, already?", she stepped into the picture. She walked into a room with Vanessa Redgrave and in a single scene I was undone. They are mesmerizing, and that moment was worth the whole afternoon. (Vanessa Redgrave is on Broadway right now in The Year of Magical Thinking , which I would love to see.) I felt rested and returned to myself, ready to come back and run another marathon of love, another week.